Jan. 21:
I took the bus up to Colombo in the morning. When I got to Mark’s house we had king coconut with rum, and then Josh arrived from India. Then we had an amazing Sri Lankan lunch. Mark’s mom is a fantastic cook. She made the best food I’ve had in Sri Lanka so far! Everything was so fresh, and the dishes were never ending! Then we went out for “tea,” which was actually drinks, at some fancy hotels by the beach. We had some trouble getting in because of the dress code and we were dressed as a bunch of western kid bums, but it was fine in the end. We also tried some awesome shrimp seafood from a cart on the beach. Then back at home we had a spectacular dinner with crab and a million other delicious dishes. It was a great food day!!!
Jan. 22:
Today we woke up at 4:30 am and were in the van by 5. We went to a beautiful ancient temple on top of a very high and very steep set of stairs on a rock hill. On top of the big rock was an ancient stupa and remnants of the castle and village that was up there. The king used to live there. It was a lookout for British invasions. Buddhas tooth relic was also hidden there for some time, as it was with other temples in the country. There were beautiful tall grasses and wildflowers with bees and beetles on them. There were giant bees and small black and blue striped bees that moved very fast. There was also a depression carved in the rock for herbal medicinal baths nearby.
Next we went to the tallest real rock Buddha statue in the world! It was very big, and unfortunately they were constructing a roof over it so it was surrounded in scaffolding.
Next we had lunch by a lake. The local police hooked us up with delicious takeout rice and curry. The police there are friends with Mark’s dad. A fisherman took us for short traditional canoe rides on the lake, and were serenaded by some local musicians. And Lotta fell in the water when she was washing her hands! I was also enquiring to Mark about betel nut and magically some appeared from the police officer! So we had to try it. You rub some pink paste on a leaf and fold it up, then chew it up with the betel nut chunk. Eventually your spit turns from green to bright red. Betel is good for your digestion because it is so bitter, but it also rots your teeth out and causes mouth cancer. Apparently I was really good at chewing it!
Mark’s dad (and family) is well respected in the area not only because he is a successful businessman, but because he is extremely generous to people and has helped many local people out. His family has a crazy life story and have had a really tough life. And they have been so generous and welcoming with our group!
Next we checked into our hotel, and then visited another small temple. It had a pond with a very charismatic turtle and fish.
Next we went to see the oldest tree on record!! This tree is important because it is a bodhi tree. Buddha studied under a Bodhi tree. This particular tree in Sri Lanka is descended from the original tree in India from a branch. It is 2500 years old!! The original branch is held up by many supports. We got to set some flowers at the temple at night, and light some candles and incense. There were many people praying there. It was an absolutely beautiful night!! It was very special for all of us.
Nearby is the largest stupa in the world! It was built by a king who was very well-liked. It is in a perfect half circle shape, and engineers still don’t know how they got it so perfect with the tools they had back then!! There is a giant ruby at the top, like all stupas, and some of buddhas relics and some treasure are sealed in the chamber inside. No one goes inside, ever. The stupa was finished being built around 137 B.C.E.
Jan 23:
Today we went to a temple and rock peak where Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka to the king. We climbed up a little rock peak where seven monks levitated to the top and explained Buddhism. Then we went up to a mountain peak that had another ancient stupa, and we almost got kicked out because one of us was not wearing proper clothing. We saw a giant squirrel, tons of butterflies, water lilies, and butterfly wings everywhere! Then we went to a fancy conservation hotel that had 4 kilometers of canopy walkways, and a beautiful meditation platform.
Jan. 24:
Today we went to an ancient city of ruins in Anuradhapura. It was very neat to see all the old foundations and Buddha statues everywhere. The rest of the day we had a rest day. Lotte and I got an ayurvedic treatment at the hotel. We got a massage, an herbal steam in a wooden space pod with a face massage with aloe vera, a head, face, and neck massage, then a rest in a sauna that was made of termite mud and the floor was covered with herbs. All this was only $40 for 1.5 hours! We were in heaven…
Jan. 25:
Today we went to see Sigiriya, a giant rock with the ruins of an ancient castle on top, surrounded by extensive water gardens and systems at the top and bottom of the rock. The rock is the magma plug of a volcano that eroded away long ago. Here is the simplified history that I can remember:
So one day there was a king who had two sons. One son was from a queen, but one was from a random lady. The king liked the unroyal son better. One day the unroyal son killed his father, the king, by stoning him to death (actually the same lake we canoed on a few days before turns out!!). The royal son fled to south India in fear of his life because he had some connections there. Meanwhile, the new king built a massive castle at Sigiriya, in case his brother came to attack him. One day his brother did come to fight him, and they went to war. The king realized he was losing so he killed himself to save his army. The victorious son refused to live at the castle where his evil brother lived, so he moved somewhere else.
Sigiriya has swimming pools and water reservoirs on top of it. They still don’t know how they got the water up there without motorized pumps!! It is very steep! It was many, many steps to get up there.
Next we went to Dambulla caves. They are several Buddhist caves on a rock mountain. The paintings inside are incredible! And there are many Buddha statues in each cave. There were also some aggressive monkeys that attacked Lotte and Mark to steal their flowers!
I took the bus up to Colombo in the morning. When I got to Mark’s house we had king coconut with rum, and then Josh arrived from India. Then we had an amazing Sri Lankan lunch. Mark’s mom is a fantastic cook. She made the best food I’ve had in Sri Lanka so far! Everything was so fresh, and the dishes were never ending! Then we went out for “tea,” which was actually drinks, at some fancy hotels by the beach. We had some trouble getting in because of the dress code and we were dressed as a bunch of western kid bums, but it was fine in the end. We also tried some awesome shrimp seafood from a cart on the beach. Then back at home we had a spectacular dinner with crab and a million other delicious dishes. It was a great food day!!!
Jan. 22:
Today we woke up at 4:30 am and were in the van by 5. We went to a beautiful ancient temple on top of a very high and very steep set of stairs on a rock hill. On top of the big rock was an ancient stupa and remnants of the castle and village that was up there. The king used to live there. It was a lookout for British invasions. Buddhas tooth relic was also hidden there for some time, as it was with other temples in the country. There were beautiful tall grasses and wildflowers with bees and beetles on them. There were giant bees and small black and blue striped bees that moved very fast. There was also a depression carved in the rock for herbal medicinal baths nearby.
Next we went to the tallest real rock Buddha statue in the world! It was very big, and unfortunately they were constructing a roof over it so it was surrounded in scaffolding.
Next we had lunch by a lake. The local police hooked us up with delicious takeout rice and curry. The police there are friends with Mark’s dad. A fisherman took us for short traditional canoe rides on the lake, and were serenaded by some local musicians. And Lotta fell in the water when she was washing her hands! I was also enquiring to Mark about betel nut and magically some appeared from the police officer! So we had to try it. You rub some pink paste on a leaf and fold it up, then chew it up with the betel nut chunk. Eventually your spit turns from green to bright red. Betel is good for your digestion because it is so bitter, but it also rots your teeth out and causes mouth cancer. Apparently I was really good at chewing it!
Mark’s dad (and family) is well respected in the area not only because he is a successful businessman, but because he is extremely generous to people and has helped many local people out. His family has a crazy life story and have had a really tough life. And they have been so generous and welcoming with our group!
Next we checked into our hotel, and then visited another small temple. It had a pond with a very charismatic turtle and fish.
Next we went to see the oldest tree on record!! This tree is important because it is a bodhi tree. Buddha studied under a Bodhi tree. This particular tree in Sri Lanka is descended from the original tree in India from a branch. It is 2500 years old!! The original branch is held up by many supports. We got to set some flowers at the temple at night, and light some candles and incense. There were many people praying there. It was an absolutely beautiful night!! It was very special for all of us.
Nearby is the largest stupa in the world! It was built by a king who was very well-liked. It is in a perfect half circle shape, and engineers still don’t know how they got it so perfect with the tools they had back then!! There is a giant ruby at the top, like all stupas, and some of buddhas relics and some treasure are sealed in the chamber inside. No one goes inside, ever. The stupa was finished being built around 137 B.C.E.
Jan 23:
Today we went to a temple and rock peak where Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka to the king. We climbed up a little rock peak where seven monks levitated to the top and explained Buddhism. Then we went up to a mountain peak that had another ancient stupa, and we almost got kicked out because one of us was not wearing proper clothing. We saw a giant squirrel, tons of butterflies, water lilies, and butterfly wings everywhere! Then we went to a fancy conservation hotel that had 4 kilometers of canopy walkways, and a beautiful meditation platform.
Jan. 24:
Today we went to an ancient city of ruins in Anuradhapura. It was very neat to see all the old foundations and Buddha statues everywhere. The rest of the day we had a rest day. Lotte and I got an ayurvedic treatment at the hotel. We got a massage, an herbal steam in a wooden space pod with a face massage with aloe vera, a head, face, and neck massage, then a rest in a sauna that was made of termite mud and the floor was covered with herbs. All this was only $40 for 1.5 hours! We were in heaven…
Jan. 25:
Today we went to see Sigiriya, a giant rock with the ruins of an ancient castle on top, surrounded by extensive water gardens and systems at the top and bottom of the rock. The rock is the magma plug of a volcano that eroded away long ago. Here is the simplified history that I can remember:
So one day there was a king who had two sons. One son was from a queen, but one was from a random lady. The king liked the unroyal son better. One day the unroyal son killed his father, the king, by stoning him to death (actually the same lake we canoed on a few days before turns out!!). The royal son fled to south India in fear of his life because he had some connections there. Meanwhile, the new king built a massive castle at Sigiriya, in case his brother came to attack him. One day his brother did come to fight him, and they went to war. The king realized he was losing so he killed himself to save his army. The victorious son refused to live at the castle where his evil brother lived, so he moved somewhere else.
Sigiriya has swimming pools and water reservoirs on top of it. They still don’t know how they got the water up there without motorized pumps!! It is very steep! It was many, many steps to get up there.
Next we went to Dambulla caves. They are several Buddhist caves on a rock mountain. The paintings inside are incredible! And there are many Buddha statues in each cave. There were also some aggressive monkeys that attacked Lotte and Mark to steal their flowers!
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| Yapahuwa Temple. Lots of stairs!! |
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| The top of the rock. See an ancient stupa on the right. This was the place of an ancient castle. |
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| Wildflowers. My favourite! |
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| View from inside one of the caves. |
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| Tallest Buddha carved from a piece of rock. |
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| Buying flowers at the oldest tree |
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| Lovely Lotte |
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| The oldest tree with a record of care over all those years!! The scaffolding is holding up the original branch brought over from the original bodhi tree in India. |
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| Buying lights |
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| Brett placing incense at the temple |
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| Many prayers |
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| The largest intact stupa in the world! |
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| Climbing up to the birthplace of buddhism in Sri Lanka |
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| Brett and puppy |
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| View from the top of the rock where the 7 monks levitated to explain Buddhism to the Sri Lankan king. |
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| Stone cut stairs to the top |
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| Mama and baby |
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| Elephant on the road! We had to wait for it to leave before going further. |
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| Sigiriya shrouded in clouds. Ancient temple on the top! |
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| Giant carpenter bee at Dambulla caves! |
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| Really old paintings on the rock on the way up Sigiriya. So vibrant still! |
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| Swimming pool/water reservoir on top of the rock! They still don't know how they got the water up there!! |
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| View of the gardens from the top |
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| An air conditioned room at the base of Sigiriya rock. So cool!!! Ancient air conditioning!! |
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| Golden Temple. I like the teeth.. |
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| Water lily caev temple offerings. Smuggled up the hill under my shirt to protect from the monkeys. |
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| inside one of the largest Dambulla caves. So many Buddhas and tiny paintings! |
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| I liked this. Around a crack in the ceiling that let water in they painted fish! Its like a cave river now. |
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| Monkey family portrait. |
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The lions paws halfway up. There was a once a giant lion head over the stairs.  |
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